A Beautiful Friendship
by nalaa
Summary: Their friendship is strong. [...] . They have learnt that, despite everything, they'll always be there for each other. [Bullies post-ep]


_A/N:_ This has been collecting dust on my iPad for the past five to six months. Today, I actually had the inspiration to finish it.

I hope you like it!

Song _You've got a friend_ by Carol King.

* * *

_When you're down and troubled_

_And you need some loving care_

_And nothing, nothing is going right_

* * *

Everybody has had a pretty shitty week, herself included. That's why she isn't at all surprised when at Friday night, after finishing her segment at Elliot's show, she finds Mackenzie slumped in one of the chairs in her office, waiting for her.

"Hey." Sloan greets her as she enters her haven. Mac merely nods at her, her sight fixed at some undefined spot. "You ok?" Sloan asks her friend.

Mac turns her head to look at her, as if she has only realized that she has company. "Let's get drunk." Mac replies, ignoring Sloan's question.

Sloan stares at her, mouth hanging open. She knows Mac had an equally bad week but it's unusual to hear her so willing to end up totally smashed. Sloan needs a drink too, or ten, so she quickly agrees and gathers her things. Mac stands up once she's finished and they walk together to the elevators.

"Hang Chew's?" Sloan asks.

"The staff will be there." Mac simply replies.

"We'll find a quiet corner." Sloan reassures her. "Or we can sneak to the back."

They ride downstairs in silence and walk side by side to the bar. They place their orders and find a quiet booth, far from their colleagues, where they hope nobody will have the need to interrupt their evening. Their usual waitress comes with their drinks and they thank her, speaking the firsts words in the last five minutes. Mac quietly sips her drink, Sloan looks at her with a mix between confusion and pity but, after another two minutes without a word being said, Sloan has had enough.

"Spill it." She firmly tells her friend.

"How are you doing?" Mac asks her, dodging the previous statement.

"Getting better." Sloan replies. "It's gonna be a while until I get my credibility back."

"You're going to get it back in no time." Mac assures her. "And, you know, for the next few weeks, we can lengthen your economics segment a bit, remind the public how great you're at your job."

"You don't have to do that, Kenzie." Sloan tells her, even if she appreciates the gesture.

"I know I don't have to, but I want to."

"Thank you." Sloan says, sincerely, before extending her arm to gently squeeze Mac's hand. "Thank you for sticking by me, for supporting me when I fucked everything up." Mac waves her hand as if she had said something silly. "No, I really mean it Kenzie. You offered me your help and, instead of accepting it, I made fun of it and turned to Will. Then, when it really mattered, you were the only one who stood by me."

"That's what friends do, Sloan." Mac says after finishing her drink in one big gulp.

"I haven't been a very good friend." Sloan explains. Mac only stares at her and smiles gently. "I'm sorry." She apologizes, she really needs to. She feels that she has to keep apologizing, even get down on her knees and beg, until Mac forgives her. Deep down, she knows that's not what Mac wants so she remains quiet.

"Apology accepted." Mac smiles at her and Sloan breathes in relief.

"Does Will agree with that?"

"I don't care." Mac quickly replies, knowing what Sloan is talking about. "It's the right thing to do. It's my decision. If he doesn't agree, he can go fuck himself."

"Uh oh." Sloan whispers before finishing her drink as well. "I'm gonna get us another round and then you're going to tell me what the hell happened this week while I was slowly digging my grave."

Mac doesn't has time to reply as Sloan quickly gets up to get them new drinks. She knew where she was getting herself into when she invited Sloan to get drunk with her, she wants and needs to talk to someone but, as the first drink begins to make its intended effect, she begins to regret her decision. Her thoughts are interrupted when her friend comes back and puts another Cosmo in front of her.

"Thanks." Mac tells her, taking a sip.

"What has Will done?" Sloan bluntly asks her, leaving the _this time_ unsaid.

Mac looks at her, incredulous. _What hasn't he done?_, she thinks. First, he fucked up the interview bullying that poor man. Then, the stupid thing trying to fix the website. And then, the fucking ring. _Don't forget about the fucking ring, Mackenzie!_, she tells herself.

Sloan seems to understand what Mac is thinking and quickly adds. "I'm not talking about the show. Something personal happened."

"Charlie asked us to do opposition research on Will." Mac begins explaining, surprising Sloan. "He wanted us to be prepared. So I put Jim, Maggie, Neal and Kendra on the job."

"And they discovered something you didn't know." Sloan says for her.

"Yeah." Mac admits. "Back in 2006, Fox offered him a late night talk show in LA. It went as far as a deal memo."

"You were together back then."

"We were."

"And you didn't know."

"I didn't."

"And you confronted him about it."

"I did."

"What happened then?" Sloan asks, curious.

"I barged into his office and told him I knew about it." Mac drains her drink and continues. "He was considering moving to the other side of the country and he didn't tell me a word so I thought, maybe he wasn't as devoted to our relationship as he always claimed he was. Maybe, deep down, he didn't want to marry me."

"Maybe, what you did wasn't so wrong." Sloan finishes for her.

"Exactly." Mac replies.

"What did he say?"

"He opened his drawer and took out a ring."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Sloan exclaims too loudly.

"I am not." Mac assures her, her voice caught in emotion. "He took out a Tiffany box, opened it and left it on his desk, in front of me. He told me that he knew the offer wasn't serious and that he didn't want to be embarrassed in front of me. That he was still trying to impress me." Sloan hands her a tissue so she can dry the few tears that have fallen down her face. Mac accepts it with a sad smile. "I got in there, smug and confident, claiming that I was good, and pure, while he looked at me with those fake sad puppy eyes that he's able to do so well because, deep down, I know he was enjoying it."

"Fuck." Sloan spits out.

"Yeah." Mac agrees with her. "I felt as if all my energy got drained, I couldn't formulate a comeback."

"What did you do?"

"I left." Mac simply says. They spend a few seconds in silence until Mac speaks again. "Why does he enjoy punishing me so much, Sloan?"

"I don't know." Sloan tells her friend.

"I'm tired of all the shit he's putting me through." She says, stealing Sloan's drink and draining it in one big gulp. "I'm going to grab to more."

Mac places her order at the bar and returns to sit in front of Sloan. The waitress quickly brings them four glasses and leaves them alone. Sloan raises her eyebrow at the two extra drinks and Mac simply looks at her guiltily. "It will save us a trip to the bar."

They sip their drinks in silence, letting the emotions dissipate a little bit before returning to the conversation.

"What are you gonna do?" Sloan asks her friend.

"My job. Nothing more, nothing less." Mac tiredly replies.

An hour later, they're sitting side by side, their shoulders touching, and talking in low hushed tones even when there's not need to do it: the staff came by half an hour ago to say goodbye so there isn't anyone at the bar who knows them. They are sharing funny stories and giggling in between sips from their fourth drink.

"We should go out and hunt." Sloan tells Mac, trying to sound as serious as she can.

"Hunt for what?" Mac asks her friend, suddenly confused.

"For what?!" Sloan exclaims. "For men, Kenzie! We have to go out and find a man!" She explains.

"No, thank you. I don't want a relationship right now, Sloan."

"Who's talking about relationships? You need a FWB, Kenzie."

"What the hell is that?" Mac asks, confused.

"A friend with benefits, a fuckfriend, fuckbuddy or whatever name you wanna use."

"I don't think so." Mac laughs at her.

"We need a man!" Sloan tells her, really believing that what she's saying is the solution to all their problems.

"A man for us or- "

"One for each of us!" She exclaims, outraged. "Jeez, Kenz! I love you, you're my best friend, but you're not my type."

That last statement makes Mackenzie burst out laughing, nearly spitting her drink all over Sloan.

"Mac?" Sloan drunkenly says, her mood suddenly changing from joyful to dead serious.

"Yeah?" Mac replies, raising her head from Sloan's shoulder, where it had been resting for the last couple of minutes.

"I'm really sorry." She tells her.

"I know."

"You didn't deserve that." Sloan continues.

"Stop worrying about it, ok?" Mac replies, nudging her friends shoulder.

"You're the best friend of the whole wide world." Sloan says.

"And you're drunk." Mac tells her, giggling like an school girl.

"Hey!" Sloan exclaims. "I say something nice to you and that's all you can say?" She says. "And, for the record, you're drunk too."

"I am." Mac simply replies. "Come on, let's finish our drinks and get out of here. You can crash on my flat and tomorrow, after a big breakfast and a ton of Advil, we can have a Girl's Day Out: spa, facials, a full-body massage, manicure, pedicure ... Whatever we want!"

"Sounds good to me."

Their friendship is strong, even more now after it has been put to a test during the last week. They have learnt that, despite everything, they'll always be there for each other. That awful week had showed them who their friends really were.

* * *

_When people can be so cold_

_They'll hurt you and desert you_

_And take your soul if you let them_

_Oh, but don't you let them_

_You just call out my name_

_And you know wherever I am_

_I'll come running to see you again_

_Winter, spring, summer or fall_

_All you have to do is call_

_And I'll be there_

_You've got a friend_


End file.
